A grand reception by the state of New South Wales awaited in the afternoon at the harbourside Opera House, where several thousand onlookers had gathered.

A new poll published Wednesday showed support for a republic in Australia, where the British queen remains head of state, has dropped to a more than two-decade low.

Some 51 percent oppose switching from a constitutional monarchy to a republic, compared to 42 percent who support it, according to the Fairfax-Nielsen survey of 1,400 people carried out from Thursday to Saturday.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were greeted by crowds in the tens of thousands during their 10-day tour of New Zealand, even in small regional towns such as Blenheim and Cambridge.

The royals visit the Blue Mountains on Thursday, Brisbane on April 19 and Uluru (Ayers Rock) on April 22.

They head to Adelaide on April 23 and the capital Canberra on April 24 and 25, before flying home.

LATEST: SEOUL (Reuters) - More than 100 people remained missing on Wednesday after a South Korean ferry with 477 people aboard capsized off the country's southwest coast, Yonhap news agency said.

Yonhap and YTN television said 368 people had been rescued from the vessel, which sank after issuing a distress call early on Wednesday. Those numbers could not be independently verified.

EARLIER REPORT:

SEOUL (Reuters) - About 160 passengers, including high school students, were plucked to safety on Wednesday in a dramatic rescue from a South Korean passenger ferry sinking with 475 on board, officials said, although at least two people had died.

South Korean officials said the rescue operation was still underway and it was difficult to offer any confirmed information about the remaining 300 or so people on board.

The ferry, identified as the Sewol, was carrying 475 passengers and crew and 150 vehicles, according to Korean port authorities, when it began to list badly as it neared Jeju island, about 100 km (60 miles) south of the Korean peninsula.

Within hours, television pictures showed the Sewol lying on its port side. Soon after the ship had completely capsized, with only the forward part of its white and blue hull showing above the water.

An official from the Danwon High School in Ansan, a suburb in the capital Seoul, said all its 338 students and teachers had been rescued safely but that could not be confirmed by the coast guard or other officials involved in the rescue.

The students and teachers were on a field trip to Jeju, said the official, who asked not to be identified.

A distress signal was sent from the ship early on Wednesday, the South Korean coast guard said, triggering a rescue operation involving dozens of ships and helicopters.

Photo taken on April 16, 2014 shows people being brought onto land in Jindo after a South Korean ferry carrying 476 passengers and crew sank on its way to Jeju island from Incheon.

There was no immediate indication of what caused the ship to list and roll on its side, although one witness told YTN television there had been a "loud impact and noise" before it started sinking.

The coast guard later said one person had been found dead inside the sinking ferry. An official from the Mokpo Hankook hospital on the mainland said another person had died soon after arriving at its emergency ward.

Television and still pictures showed the badly listing ferry surrounded by debris, rescue ships, helicopters and at least one inflatable lifeboat.

Chang Kyung-hak, a crew member on a ship sent from a nearby town to help with the rescue, said his vessel was carrying dozens of people, including students who had been saved from the ferry, and that most were in fair condition.

However, two people were suffering minor burns, Chang told Reuters by telephone. Weather conditions were fair, he said, and the sea appeared calm.

South Korea Coast Guard members rescuing some of the passengers and crew aboard the South Korean ferry.

The ferry had left from the port of Incheon, about 30 km (20 miles) west of the capital, Seoul, late on Sunday.

A government official said the rescue operation involved 18 helicopters and 34 navy and coast guard vessels.

The ferry, which also carries cars and trucks, has a capacity of about 900 people and has an overall length of 146 metres (480 feet) and weighs 6,586 gross tonnes. Shipping records show it was built in Japan in 1994.

A passenger on board told YTN television the first rescue helicopter had reached the vessel soon after the distress signal was sent.

The unidentified passenger, who spoke before people were evacuated, sounded calm and said those on board were in their cabins but were having trouble keeping their balance.

Heavy fog had set in overnight off the west coast, leading to the cancellation of many island passenger ferry services.

Wellington (AFP) - Prince William and his wife Kate departed New Zealand with their baby son Prince George on Wednesday, an AFP reporter saw, heading for Sydney to begin the Australian leg of their tour Down Under.

The royals waved as they boarded an Australian air force 737, with William carrying his eight-month old son in his arms.

On their final day in New Zealand, William and Kate were introduced to German Shepherd puppies destined to become police dogs when they visited Wellington's Royal New Zealand Police College.

They also conducted a walkabout in the capital's downtown area.

They have been treated like celebrities during their 10-day visit, attracting crowds in the tens of thousands, even in small regional towns such as Blenheim and Cambridge.

The New Zealand trip has included yacht racing, Maori ceremonies involving warriors with tattooed backsides on display, and an adrenaline-charged jetboat ride on a lake nestled between the picturesque mountains of Queenstown.

The highlight was undoubtedly a "play date" involving George and 10 local babies at Wellington's Government House, giving the public a rare glimpse of the royal toddler.

They set off from Wellington at 0100 GMT and are due to touch down at about 0430 GMT.

They will travel straight to the Sydney Opera House for an official reception to begin their Australian tour, which continues until April 25 and includes a trip to Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the country's fabled outback.

The former Agent 007 star is currently promoting his new film, A Long Way Down.

Former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan recognises the role as a "gift that keeps on giving", but he doesn't particularly enjoy watching himself order martinis shaken, not stirred.

"I have no desire to watch myself as James Bond, because it's just never good enough – it's a horrible feeling," Brosnan told The Telegraph.

Brosnan played Agent 007 in four films released between 1995 and 2002: Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. "I felt I was caught in a time warp between Roger and Sean. It was a very hard one to grasp the meaning of, for me," the 60-year-old actor said.

"The violence was never real, the brute force of the man was never palpable. It was quite tame, and the characterisation didn't have a follow-through of reality, it was surface. But then that might have had to do with my own insecurities in playing him as well."

As insecure as Brosnan may be about his Bond legacy, he recognises that the opportunity to play Ian Fleming's creation secured him the means to make passion projects like 2005's The Matador or his upcoming comedy How To Make Love Like An Englishman.

"It's the gift that keeps on giving, that allowed me to create my own production company and make my own movies," Brosnan said.

Brosnan is currently promoting his film A Long Way Down with actress Toni Collette and will soon be seen opposite Emma Thompson in The Love Punch,"a comedy about a happily divorced couple who scheme to recover the retirement money that was stolen from them. — Reuters

The star of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and her wonderful red carpet looks.

Emma Stone, who will grace the big screens again later this month with co-star and real-life boyfriend Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, has been busy promoting the movie across the globe.

In the past few days, 25-year-old Stone has been walking the red carpet in Britain, France and Italy in eye-catching outfits by major fashion designers.

On April 11 in London, Stone wore a gorgeous canary yellow dress by Atelier Versace. Later that same day, the actress showed up in a black PVC Lanvin dress at the Paris premiere of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Emma Stone in a gorgeous Atelier Versace at the London premiere of her movie. -- AFP

Yesterday in Rome, Stone wore a two-piece ivory lace number by Dolce & Gabbana. It wasn't, perhaps, her best look but since she wore the outfit for press interviews and not for a premiere, we forgive her.

That same night, also in Rome, Stone attended the movie's Italy premiere in a two-piece Valentino creation.

Actors Omar Epps and Kurtwood Smith are heading their way here to promote their TV series.

Resurrection is a new TV series based on a book by author Jason Mott called The Returned. The show revolves around the residents of a US town called Arcadia in Missouri, whose lives turn upside down when their loved ones return from the dead!

One of those who has "returned" is Jacob Langston, an eight-year-old boy who drowned more than three decades ago. Found "alive" somewhere in a rice field in China, Jacob is then brought back to Arcadia by an immigration agent named Marty Bellamy, who is played by Omar Epps. Kurtwood Smith plays Henry Langston, Jacob's father.

Other stars in the show includes Frances Fisher, Matt Craven, Devin Kelley, Mark Hildreth and Samaire Strong, with Landon Gimenez as Jacob.

Resurrection premiered in the US early last month and will make its debut here on the Lifetime channel (Astro Ch 709) on May 12 at 10pm. To promote the launch of the show, Epps and Smith will be coming to Malaysia to meet the press, and to hang out with some fans. And guess what? We have FIVE pairs of meet-and-greet passes to give away!

To win these exclusive passes, all you need to do is to answer one simple question and state why you want to meet the stars of Resurrection:

1. When can you catch Resurrection on the Lifetime channel (date and time)?

2. Tell us why you want to meet Omar Epps and Kurtwood Smith (in not more than 20 words).

Send all entries to contest@indeedcommunications.com by April 30. Winners will be contacted by the organiser, with details of the meet-and-greet session.

This actor has followed in the footsteps of his famous father and has no regrets.

Gabriel Macht's parents hoped their son would be a doctor or a lawyer. Their wish has been granted, in a way. He's played both on TV.

But acting wasn't really a choice for Macht. He's the son of actor Stephen Macht, and from the time he was eight he knew reciting lines and hitting his mark would be his destiny.

"At an early age I watched movies and was able to recite some lines and my father was an actor, and he had a bunch of his actor friends around. They'd always come over to the house and there was a lot of hanging out and having coffee and all this stuff," he recalls.

"And I'd come in and fool around and jump on the table and do a song and dance. And they'd start cracking up and laughing. And some say why'd you become an actor? One of the reasons is because some (expletives) clapped," he laughs.

Macht didn't have to pass the bar for his role as pragmatic lawyer Harvey Specter on, Suits, now into its fourth season.

But he faced a trial anyway. Another actor had been cast when he read the script. "I had been doing film for 15 years and saw a lot of the better writing was in television and started reading scripts," he says.

"I asked my representation about it, and they said they were going with another guy. And they did ... And he turned it down.

"Then I said, 'Can I get in?' I sat down with Aaron Korsh, the creator, and the producers and coming out of that meeting they said, 'This is our guy. We need to see him read, but this is our guy.' So I had that confidence and support going into the audition," he says.

"Then I got nervous and upset and angry that they just didn't hire me right on the spot – all that stuff. But I went and did the work and came prepared and did the audition. I felt the support, the energy in the room – that they all believed in me which allowed me to believe more and more in the character. That's how I got the role," he says in a dimly lit lounge of a hotel here.

He didn't have to learn organic chemistry for his role as Dr Mark Gabriel in Steven Spielberg's sci-fi series, The Others, either. But that was a different case. Macht didn't want to do television when that part came across his path. "I was making US$210 (RM681) a week doing a play, fully committed to the play. I was told to go out for pilot season and I didn't want to do television.

"I was told there was one show that Steven Spielberg was doing, I thought, 'OK, I'll go in. I'll just show my face. I'll do a cold reading. I won't even prepare for it. He's never going to hire me, but I'd love for him to just see my face and think of me for a movie he's doing, whatever.'"

So Macht gave it a cursory try. "I had rehearsal from 11 to 2 and was able to do the audition at 2.30pm and came back to prepare for the night's performance. I found out five minutes before I was going to do the performance that I got the series and had to fly to Toronto two days later – where I would be making a lot more than US$200 a week," he nods.

"And I was, like, 'Uhhhh, I didn't want to do television. I have to forego my responsibility for this show?' I ended up being sued by the theatre."

Macht has endured his struggling years, too. Right after college at Carnegie Mellon he studied for two years with coach Harold Guskin, snatching intermittent jobs.

But watching his father's career prepared him, he says. "Seeing the ups and downs of a career in Hollywood helped me in many ways to see it – it's like the stock market. There are times when you're successful, and there are tons of failure. And to see that growing up was really the best sort of model.

"To see that careers – 1% of careers knock it out of the park every single time. And even those people have failures and misses. So it was good to learn that at an early age. I knew what was coming. I knew there would be times I'd work a lot and times not."

Married to actress Jacinda Barrett for nearly 10 years, he has a six-year-old daughter. "I'm so appreciative of the opportunity I've had to work and the people I've been able to work with, but I think family trumps everything," says Macht, 32.

"To produce a human person that has an incredible sensitivity; just a little being who's empathic and who's exploring everything and is kind and is motivated and strong and stubborn – all these things. I hate to label her because she's a billion things more than that. But to produce a child that's going to be good for humanity, that's what I'm more proud of. And becoming a father is enormous." — McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

>> Season Three of Suits airs every Tuesday at 8.05pm on Diva (Astro Ch 702).

"The show is exactly what the name suggests – The Fix! We aim to help listeners end their day right. If they had a good day, we keep that vibe going and if they had a bad day, we want to help fix it! Azura and I always have a great time hanging out. We have fun being ourselves and making each other laugh by goofing off and we want you to join in!" says Terry.

"Even though it is a late-evening show, we can still engage and entertain our listeners through various topics in the He Said She Said segment or in an impromptu karaoke session during 'Karanokay'," adds Azura.

He Said She Said is a segment where Terry and Azura come out with a funny twist on the "Mars versus Venus" analogy, while in Karanokay, the duo put listeners through a karaoke test.

In the Mr Foo Yoh 2.0 Contest, listeners can win their share of RM30,000 by identifying the songs and artistes that Mr Foo Yoh is mimicking.

So, tune in to Red FM on 104.9FM in the Klang Valley and 106.4FM in Ipoh. Visit www.red.fm for more information.

> 988's 8.8 Seconds is a contest that puts you through a race against time to win your share of RM26,000. List out nine items in a given category in 8.8 seconds to win RM500 (if it is the bonus hour, you could win RM1,000).

So, tune in to 988's Morning Up (6am-10am) and the Good Show (4pm-8pm) for a chance to win!

SEOUL (Reuters) - About 160 passengers, including high school students, were plucked to safety on Wednesday in a dramatic rescue from a South Korean passenger ferry sinking with 475 on board, officials said, although at least two people had died.

South Korean officials said the rescue operation was still underway and it was difficult to offer any confirmed information about the remaining 300 or so people on board.

The ferry, identified as the Sewol, was carrying 475 passengers and crew and 150 vehicles, according to Korean port authorities, when it began to list badly as it neared Jeju island, about 100 km (60 miles) south of the Korean peninsula.

Within hours, television pictures showed the Sewol lying on its port side. Soon after the ship had completely capsized, with only the forward part of its white and blue hull showing above the water.

An official from the Danwon High School in Ansan, a suburb in the capital Seoul, said all its 338 students and teachers had been rescued safely but that could not be confirmed by the coast guard or other officials involved in the rescue.

The students and teachers were on a field trip to Jeju, said the official, who asked not to be identified.

A distress signal was sent from the ship early on Wednesday, the South Korean coast guard said, triggering a rescue operation involving dozens of ships and helicopters.

There was no immediate indication of what caused the ship to list and roll on its side, although one witness told YTN television there had been a "loud impact and noise" before it started sinking.

The coast guard later said one person had been found dead inside the sinking ferry. An official from the Mokpo Hankook hospital on the mainland said another person had died soon after arriving at its emergency ward.

Television and still pictures showed the badly listing ferry

surrounded by debris, rescue ships, helicopters and at least one inflatable lifeboat.

Chang Kyung-hak, a crew member on a ship sent from a nearby town to help with the rescue, said his vessel was carrying dozens of people, including students who had been saved from the ferry, and that most were in fair condition.

However, two people were suffering minor burns, Chang told Reuters by telephone.

Weather conditions were fair, he said, and the sea appeared calm.

The ferry had left from the port of Incheon, about 30 km (20 miles) west of the capital, Seoul, late on Sunday.

A government official said the rescue operation involved 18 helicopters and 34 navy and coast guard vessels.

The ferry, which also carries cars and trucks, has a capacity of about 900 people and has an overall length of 146 metres (480 feet) and weighs 6,586 gross tonnes. Shipping records show it was built in Japan in 1994.

A passenger on board told YTN television the first rescue helicopter had reached the vessel soon after the distress signal was sent.

The unidentified passenger, who spoke before people were evacuated, sounded calm and said those on board were in their cabins but were having trouble keeping their balance.

Heavy fog had set in overnight off the west coast, leading to the cancellation of many island passenger ferry services.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping held the first meeting of a new national security commission on Tuesday, saying China needed a coordinated approach to domestic and foreign challenges, including social unrest, in "the most complex time in history".

China announced the formation of the commission in November at the end of a key party meeting to map out reforms.

Experts say it is based on the National Security Council in the United States and will increase coordination among the various wings of China's security bureaucracy, split now among the police, military, intelligence and diplomatic services.

Possible international flashpoints for China include Japan, North Korea and the South China Sea. China says it also faces considerable threats at home, pointing to continued unrest in two regions heavily populated by ethnic minorities which chafe at Chinese rule - Tibet and Xinjiang.

Xi told the commission's first meeting that China faced the "most complex time in history" at home and abroad when it came to its security, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

China must "implement and put into practice an overall national security view, paying attention to external as well as internal security", Xi was cited as saying.

While Xi listed areas ranging from economic to nuclear security, he also said the commission had to "take political security as its base" and "seek stability", references to protecting the ruling Communist Party's hold on power and dealing with domestic unrest.

"Security is the condition for development. We can only build up our military power by making the country rich, and only with military power can we protect the country," Xi said.

The report did not mention any specific topics that were discussed.

On Monday, Xi urged the air force to adopt an integrated air and space defence capability, in what state media called a response to the increasing military use of space by the United States and others.

While Beijing insists its space programme is for peaceful purposes, a Pentagon report last year highlighted China's increasing space capability and said Beijing was pursuing a variety of activities aimed at preventing its adversaries from using space-based assets during a crisis.

Fears of a space arms race with the United States and other powers mounted after China blew up one of its own weather satellites with a ground-based missile in January 2007.

Visiting air force headquarters in Beijing, Xi, who is also head of the military, told officers "to speed up air and space integration and sharpen their offensive and defensive capabilities", Xinhua said.

It gave no details of how China expects to do this.

China has been increasingly ambitious in developing its space programmes for military, commercial and scientific purposes. Xi has said he wanted China to establish itself as a space superpower.

But it is still playing catch-up to established space superpowers the United States and Russia. China's Jade Rabbit moon rover has been beset by technical difficulties since landing to great domestic fanfare in mid-December.

(Corrects Xi's comments in paragraph 8 to clarify he meant building up China's military power to make the country rich)

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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BEIJING: China's annual economic growth slowed between January and March 2014 to 7.4 percent from 7.7 percent in the previous three months, but beat market expectations for growth of 7.3 percent, data showed on Wednesday.

Other data released alongside GDP showed industrial output rose 8.8 percent in March from a year ago, versus expectations of a rise of 9 percent in a Reuters poll.

Retail sales in March rose 12.2 percent on a year ago, above expectations for a 12.1 percent rise.

Fixed-asset investment rose 17.6 percent in January-March from the same period a year earlier, versus a forecast for an 18.1 percent rise. The government only publishes cumulative investment data. - Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips on Bursa Malaysia extended their gains early Wednesday, with Petronas Dagangan and Sime Darby taking the lead amid a firmer broader market, underpinned by the recovery on Wall Street.

At 9.02am, the KLCI was up 0.25 of a point to 1,854.13. Turnover was 89.11 million shares valued at RM32.57mil. There were 139 gainers, 55 losers and 156 counters unchanged.

Reuters reported Asian markets took some comfort from a late spurt by Wall Street on Wednesday as investors tensed for a reading on Chinese economic growth, while rising tensions in Ukraine kept safe-haven sovereign debt well bid.

BIMB Securities Research said it expected some profit taking after the last minute revival where the KLCI closed 2.35 points higher at 1,853.88 after spending the entire day in negative territory.

"Such resilience has kept our market valuation on a high of 16.2 times as compared to Indonesia's 13.1 times and the Philippines 15.9 times. We expect some profit taking to appear today with 1,845 and 1,850 as the immediate support levels," it said.

I-Bhd rose five sen to RM3.10. The property company plans to set up its own real estate investment trust (Reit) as the property developer strives to unlock more value and derive at least half of its earnings from recurring income in five years' time.

Meanwhile, Petronas Gas fell 20 sen to RM23.72 with 100 shares done.

Datasonic continued to lose ground, falling 20 sen to RM2.70 in active trade.

Among the banks and finance stocks, Hong Leong Capital fell 18 sen to RM12, AFG eight sen to RM4.52 and BIMB five sen to RM4.25.

Telekom Malaysia lost six sen to RM5.98 as it pared its gains from Tuesday's late buying.

NEW YORK: Coca-Cola Co reported better than expected quarterly revenue as strong sales in China more than offset a drop in Europe and flat volumes in North America.

The company's shares rose 2% in premarket trading on Tuesday.

Global case volumes rose 2% in the quarter, while those in China rose 12% due to increased marketing around the Chinese New Year, the company said.

"Our North America Group delivered even volume versus the prior year quarter while gaining value share and maintaining volume share," the company said in a statement.

North America is the company's biggest market. Sales declined 4% in Europe, but rose 6% in both India and Russia.

The company's net income attributable to shareholders fell to US$1.62bil, or 36 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 28 from US$1.75bil, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, earnings were 44 cents per share, matching the average analyst estimate.

Revenue fell 4% to US$10.58bil. Analysts on average were expecting US$10.55bi, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Coca-Cola shares were up 1.9% at US$39.48 before the bell. The stock has fallen 3.5%. - Reuters

DO we REALLY need another Batman title? After all, DC's "Batman" umbrella of books in the New 52 includes (deep breath): Batman, The Dark Knight, Detective Comics, Batgirl, Batwing, Batwoman,Nightwing, Catwoman, Batman/Superman, the Batman And … team-up series, and to a certain extent, Red Hood And The Outlaws, Birds Of Prey and the now-cancelled Talon. And that's not even counting appearances by Batman and his allies and villains in Justice League, Earth 2, and the Forever Evilcrossovers.

As a result, with the possible exception of Scott Snyder's Batman and David Finch's The Dark Knight series, many of these titles have been suffering from a case of Bat-fatigue. In fact, after the exhausting Death Of The Family crossover in 2012, most of the Batman books have been pretty unmemorable, with the recentGothopia crossover passing by without as much as a whimper.

So excuse my incredulity when DC announced ANOTHER Batman title – and a weekly one at that – to the already swollen family of Batman titles in the New 52.

Scheduled to run for 60 issues, Batman Eternal will involve five writers (Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins and Tim Seeley) and eight artists (Jason Fabok, Dustin Nguyen, Andy Clarke, Trevor McCarthy, Emanuel Simeoni, Guillem March, Ian Bertram and Mikel Janin), with each writer and artist team working on different story arcs over the 60 weeks.

Snyder and Tynion's first story arc kicks off by introducing long-time Batman character Jason Bard into the New 52 universe, and throwing the rookie cop into the deep end of what turns out to be a horrible first day at work with the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD).

The action consists of Commissioner Jim Gordon and Batman battling the insanely creepy Professor Pyg and his minions, which ends in a horrifically tragic way and results in a rather sticky situation for Gordon at the end of the issue.

Before reading this, I already feared the worse – that this would finally push me to give up on the New 52's Batman comics altogether.

Fortunately, Batman Eternal #1 is explosive enough to actually make me want more, thanks in part to Snyder and Tynion's fast and furious start to the first story arc, as well as some stunningly visceral artwork by Fabok.

Ironically, this issue works because Batman was NOT the focal point of the story. Snyder and Tynion's decision to make this opening chapter revolve around Bard and Gordon deftly counters any Bat-fatigue I might have had before reading this.

Being a fan of the excellent but ultimately short-lived GCPD-centric Gotham Central, I was happy to see Gotham's Finest given the limelight in a Batman book once again. Things might change in subsequent issues of course, and with 59 issues to go, there is still a chance that the Bat-fatigue might creep in. For the next three Snyder/Tynion-written issues at least, Batman Eternal deserves to be given a chance.

When a storyteller from the North Pole loses part of his soul, he has to traverse the world to find it.

Firstly and most importantly, don't let the word "encyclopedia" (sic) in the title deter you – or conversely, fool you – into picking up this graphic novel.

As stated in its back-page blurb: "This book is not a real encyclopedia (sic)!

"It is an epic work of fiction, detailing the many tales and adventures of one lonely storyteller on a quest for Enlightenment and True Love."

This debut graphic novel, both written and illustrated by Isabel Greenberg, starts off with a poignant love story between a Nord boy from the North Pole and a Soo-it girl from the South Pole.

But in the tradition of Scheherazade – the brave and cunning storyteller from the Arabian Nights – this little tale serves as a jumping-off point into a series of cascading stories that make up this book.

The protagonist of this novel is the Nord boy, who is a storyteller, and who was also once divided into three boys, because his adoptive mothers – three sisters – could not decide who should raise him.

As you can imagine, being split into three created certain, shall we say, personality issues – something his mothers soon realised, and regretted.

So, off they went to the Medicine Man, who managed to put him back together again.

But (there's always a but), it was not a happy ending yet, as during the original process of splitting him into three, the Medicine Man had inadvertently lost a small piece of the Nord boy's soul!

And no, the piece was no longer in the Land of Nord.

Cue a quest through seas unknown and lands unimagined!

Most of the stories told here are either part of the Nord boy's repertoire, or tell of his travels across Early Earth.

They are divided into four parts: The Land of Nord, Britanitarka, Migdal Bavel and the South Pole.

Interspersed between are also stories about the gods – the Eagle God, BirdMan, and his twin children, Kid and Kiddo the Ravens – in their Cloud Castle located in the "fourth (or maybe fifth) dimension".

Readers will find many familiar elements in Greenberg's stories, as she reworks well-known tales like the Biblical stories of Cain and Abel, Jonah and the Whale, Noah and the Great Flood, and the Tower of Babel, as well as Homer's Odyssey, among others.

Her usage of the three sisters – the Nord boy's adoptive mothers – reminded me of the mythological trope of the triune goddess or the female triumvirate representing the three phases of womanhood; while the pebble the Medicine Man gives our hero to enable him to understand all languages reminded me of the Babel fish from Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy "trilogy".

Art-wise, Greenberg employs a simple style akin to that of naive art.

Her panels are flat and two-dimensional, with strong bold lines and patterns dominating the illustrations, and she uses a mainly black-and-white palette, with the occasional red, yellow, brown or blue accent thrown in.

All of which goes quite well with the theme of a "history" of an earlier, more primitive Earth.

Readers who look closely at the illustrations will also notice that Greenberg sometimes adds clever little touches that embellish the story, demonstrate her quirky sense of humour, or subtly imply action in an otherwise static panel.

For example, her images of Cloud Castle show a background filled with bathtubs, toilet seats, pots and books, which include titles like Being Godly, Idol Worship, God Com and Creation. And do check out the stoles the Shaman, Medicine Man and Wise Old Crone wear.

Her simple inclusions of the words "scuff" or "flump" alongside her drawings, for example, immediately evoke a sense of sheepishness or the sensation of falling back on a bed.

The continuity of the stories makes it easy to finish the book in one sitting. But a second reading also has its own rewards as the reader will have more time to take in the details of the illustrations.

Overall, I quite enjoyed the reworked stories and Greenberg's subtle use of detail and colour.

But more original stories would have elevated the experience, especially as The Encyclopedia Of Early Earthis essentially a story about stories.

Older teens who are readers might appreciate getting this as an alternative gift, although prudish parents might want to flip through this before selecting it as such.

And adults who enjoy a more introspective yet quirky graphic novel might like it too.

PETALING JAYA: The Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) had to use water cannons and tear gas to disperse disgruntled fans after Perak was defeated by Johor Darul Takzim 1-0 on Tuesday night at the Perak Stadium in Ipoh.

Some fans showed their displeasure towards the home team's management when they protested after the game.

The situation spiralled out of control and the FRU had to step in to disperse the crowd.

In a separate incident, a photographer was reported to have suffered injuries after some supporters threw stones during the match.

Perak, who have never been relegated since Malaysia adopted a two-tier system, currently languish in last place with seven points after thirteen games.

KUALA LUMPUR: Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) will continue with the water rationing plan stage one, three and four as decided by the Selangor state government and approved by the National Water Services Commission.

Its corporate communications and public affairs assistant general manager Priscilla Alfred said, to date, all the plans were being implemented according to schedule.

She said the Cheras Batu 11 Water Treatment Plant was still not operating since it was closed again Monday when the ammonia level continued to be at a level higher than that permitted by the Health Ministry.

"Syabas was informed by Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd, the company operating the water treatment plant that from their observations, the ammonia content in Sungai Langat was still high," she said in a statement here Tuesday.

The water rationing plan stage one involved several areas in Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang while the third stage involved Gombak, Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, Klang/Shah Alam, Hulu Selangor and Kuala Selangor.

SHAH ALAM: Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid has admitted that the state government was facing difficulties in implementing Pakatan Rakyat's election promise with regard affordable housing in the state.

Pakatan, in its election manifesto, had promised to allocate RM100mil for the purpose of building affordable homes in Selangor. However, Khalid said that the plan was unfeasible at this juncture.

"Although the state government is doing its best to build affordable homes in the state, the demand for it has become far too great," he said, Tuesday at the Selangor State Assembly in response to Haniza Talha (PKR-Taman Medan) who had asked of the progress of the state government's affordable housing plan.

Khalid said that to date some 15,000 affordable homes had been built by the Selangor State Development Corporation and Perbadanan Nasional Selangor Berhad, while about 30,000 units were built by Sime Darby.

He added that a huge sum was needed to carry out affordable home projects, adding that current state funds did not allow the government to do so.

The film bagged the biggest award of the night, a best director nod for Wong Kar-wai and more.

Martial arts fantasy The Grandmaster enjoyed a bonanza on Sunday with 12 wins at the 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards including best movie and best director for Wong Kar-wai.

It was Wong's third win at the prestigious event after 1990s cult hits – Days Of Being Wild and Chungking Express.

"I am proud to be part of Hong Kong cinema," he said paying homage to his home in a brief media session after the glittering ceremony.

The action epic inspired by the life of kungfu master Yip Man secured accolades in most of the major categories, including best screenplay and best cinematography.

Best actress and actor winners Zhang Ziyi and Nick Cheung at the Hong Kong Film Awards. -- AFP

Chinese star Zhang Ziyi, was crowned best actress, for her performance as the daughter of a kungfu master who fell for Yip in the film.

"It was an uneasy journey. I have gained a lot (from the movie) for my own life," Zhang said on stage at the event at Hong Kong's Cultural Centre. Last month, The Grandmaster snapped up seven awards at the Asian Film Awards in Macau.

The movie's production spanned several years and touched upon several decades of Chinese history as well as rivalry between various martial arts masters.

Yip, played by Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai, was the mentor for legendary martial arts movie star Bruce Lee and is believed to have played a key role in shaping him during his childhood days.

The best actor award went to Nick Cheung for his role in action thriller Unbeatable as a former boxing champion who struggled to redeem himself in the ring.

"I didn't think I should get the awards necessarily as the competitors were very strong," Cheung told reporters at a press conference late Sunday.

Malaysian actress Crystal Lee, who stars in Unbeatable, was nominated for a best supporting actress award.

The awards also saw low-budget dance feature The Way We Dance snap up three awards, including best new director for Adam Wong.

Together with Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, the Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony is one of the Chinese film industry's most prestigious events. — AFP Relaxnews

Why the summer movie season is kicking off in April with Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Disney's latest Marvel superhero saga Captain America: The Winter Soldier got summer off to a great start at the box office, where took in more than US$95mil (RM304mil, domestic) in its opening weekend two weeks ago.

What's that you say? Summer doesn't begin until June 21? Don't tell Hollywood that. When it comes to blockbusters, the studios have been custom-fitting the calendar for years, making May the de facto start of the tentpole season. But this year they've gone even further, essentially kicking off the season the first weekend in April.

"They avoid the summer competition and it should play strongly the whole month. I don't think that there's any doubt that you'll see other studios doing the same thing going forward."

Disney's decision to slot The Winter Soldier early was made easier when Sony locked up the first week in May for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. That's been a launching pad for Marvel films – from Disney, Fox and Sony – for nearly a decade.

"You look at a number of factors, like what will be the competition, will it have running room to continue to deliver," Disney's distribution chief Dave Hollis told TheWrap. "With spring breaks starting, our data shows we'll have about 11% of the students out of school and that number will rise as we get closer to Easter. And with a huge brand and tentpole like this, we think we can create some business where it hasn't been before."

Traditional wisdom for years dictated that summer, when kids and college students were out of school and families were on vacation, was the optimal time to release a blockbuster.

The studios moved into May more than a decade ago, but Disney elevated that window to new heights with Marvel's The Avengers and Iron Man 3 the past two years. If Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens as big as expected, look for April to become similarly popular.

Pounding the competition: Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier has set the record as the biggest domestic April release ever.

"I remember when Twister came out in the first week of May and that was considered revolutionary," Fandango's chief correspondent Dave Karger told TheWrap, recalling the 1996 hit.

"Now the summer movie is starting and there's snow on the ground.

"A true event film will bring in a big crowd regardless of when it's released," Karger said. "Dates matter a lot more to family movies, where it really does matter if kids are in school, but for something like Captain America, the millennial audience is going to see it on opening weekend, whether that's in April or July."

It's not just the Captain America sequel that will give the month a summer feel. Fox rolled out Rio 2 on April 11 and Warner Bros. has the Johnny Depp sci-fi film Transcendence the following week. March release Divergent will still be in the market, too. In terms of direct demographic competition however, The Winter Soldier won't have any until Spider-Man 2 hits theatres on May 2.

Universal Pictures, which has Fast & Furious 7 set for April 10 next year and its new take on The Mummy pencilled in for April of 2016, has been at the forefront of broadening the schedule. The last two Fast & Furious movies debuted in May of 2013 and April 2009, respectively.

"We believe in a 52-week philosophy," distribution chief Nikki Rocco told a gathering of theatre owners at the recent CinemaCon convention. "When you have so many movies in the summer and clog that corridor, you're going to have as many losers as winners."

That was certainly the case last year, when several big-budget movies like After Earth, The Lone Ranger and R.I.P.D. bombed at the same time that the overall summer box office was setting a record for grosses. The shift is seen as good news by the exhibition industry, which has been pressing studios to go to a schedule that spaced out the tentpole and family films.

"We could sell even more tickets to those movies if they were spread more evenly throughout the year," said John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners said.

He noted that Warner Bros had scored big with Gravity, which opened to US$55mil (RM179.9mil) in October and went on to take in US$715mil (RM2.3bil) worldwide. And two months ago, The Lego Movie posted the second-biggest opening ever in February with US$69mil (RM225.8mil). — Reuters

A German recluse's pledge to return his billion-dollar hoard of Nazi-looted artworks to their rightful owners was welcomed but also met with scepticism about whether all of it would actually be returned.

The legal custodian of Cornelius Gurlitt, who inherited the paintings drawings and sculptures from his father, said on Wednesday his client would return all works looted by the Nazis to their owners or owners' descendants.

But the lawyer representing the heirs of Alfred Flechtheim, a Jewish art patron and collector who lost everything to the Nazis, questioned whether Gurlitt was in a position to make such a promise given that the art has been confiscated by the authorities.

"It remains to be seen ... in which case this announcement actually leads to returns," Markus Stoetzel told Reuters. "Gurlitt can make an announcement that he wants to return the art works but the prosecutor has to agree."

Cornelius Gurlitt, the man whose modern art collection valued at RM4.5bil is under investigation for its connection with Nazi-looted art, on the cover of German publication Der Spiegel dated Nov 18, 2013 . Read the English version of the magazine's interview with Gurlitt.

Gurlitt's trove, which includes Modernist and Renaissance masterpieces valued at about 1bil euros (RM4.5bil), according to media reports, was discovered when authorities raided his Munich apartment in February 2012 investigating possible tax evasion.

He inherited the collection from his father, who took orders from Hitler to buy and sell so-called 'degenerate art' to fund Nazi activities during World War Two. The son aroused suspicion in 2010 when German customs officials stopped him on a train from Switzerland carrying a large sum in cash.

The first piece to be returned would be a portrait entitled Sitting Woman by Henri Matisse, according to Gurlitt's lawyer. The painting belonged to Paris-based Jewish art collector Paul Rosenberg and was at some point part of Adolf Hitler's air force chief Herman Goering's collection before making it to Gurlitt.

Germany's government has been heavily criticised for keeping silent for almost two years about the trove until a magazine broke the story, for not publishing a list of all the pieces and for possibly having no legal right to keep the works.

Ruediger Mahlo, representative for the Claims Conference in Germany, reiterated his plea that Germany make the list of art works public to ease research into legal ownership.

"In order to implement this wish quickly, the origin of all objects of the entire Gurlitt collection must be cleared up quickly," he told Reuters, referring to works taken from Gurlitt's homes in Munich and in Salzburg in Austria.

Under German rules, works acquired from 1933 up to the present day but created before 1945 can be investigated as Nazi-looted property.

Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, said while he welcomed Gurlitt's decision, he should not be made out to be a hero.

"Had it not been for public pressure and the setting up of a task force by the German government to look into his trove, Mr Gurlitt would not have moved, despite the fact that this is now being presented by his lawyer as a voluntary act," he said. – Reuters

An artists' collective in Pakistan is giving a human face to US drone strikes.

We hear a great deal about the ruthless ingenuity of military hardware, but this is something else altogether. It is a new device currently on deployment in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It has the power to startle an enemy for a moment and perhaps even render him incapable of using his weapon afterwards.

In the medium-to-long term, the enemy may suffer from impaired judgment and, in some cases, be neutralised. The device is a picture of his victim.

This is not the work of the US military or the Taliban, of course, but comes instead from a group of artist-activists. Inspired by the French photographer JR, who installs hugely magnified portraits of local people in the landscape, they travelled to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the scene of many US drone attacks.

With them they brought a giant poster of an unnamed child who is said to have lost both her parents and two younger siblings in one of the attacks. Having secured the agreement of local people, they unrolled the picture and fixed it flat on the ground in a field beside a group of houses.

Villagers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Villagers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province with the NotABugSplat image on the ground behind them. The number of civilians so far killed by drones remains a matter of intense debate, but the worry among campaigners is that this kind of warfare makes killing unpleasantly easy.

Operators have compared the experience with playing a computer game, and a Rolling Stone magazine article in 2012 recorded their use of the term "bug splat" to describe the mess on the ground that killing someone leaves behind. The artists have chosen #NotABugSplat as the project's name.

The intention now is that any drone operator who looks down through their camera and sees this village will have reason to think twice. In their own words, the artists hope the image "will create empathy and introspection amongst drone operators, and will create dialogue amongst policy makers, eventually leading to decisions that will save innocent lives". – Guardian News & Media

The Day Dream joint exhibition by James Street and Wong Lileng is currently on in Penang.

The lorry pulled away from the driveway in a cloud of dust, and the little dog chased after it. This was goodbye for good – the family was moving to another town, another country.

Decades later, Brownie the dog is immortalised in clay by Wong Lileng, who still remembers bidding her dog farewell more than four decades ago.

"It was a really sad day for us, I was only three or four, but I still vaguely remember Brownie chasing after us as we drove away in our lorry. Till today, my mum, who is 79, still talks about Brownie," she shares in a phone interview from Penang, where Day Dream, joint exhibition with fellow artist James Seet, is being held.

Flight control: Wong Lileng's whimsical Off We Go!, is part of the Day Dream Exhibition at China House in Penang.

The artist – who usually goes by her first name Lileng – says Brownie Comes Home is one of her 10 works at the exhibition that resonates the most strongly with her, as it is crafted in memory of the dog she left behind in Brunei when the family moved to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

The youngest of three siblings, Lileng, who is a graphic designer by profession, now divides her time between Malaysia and the Netherlands.

Introduced to pottery at a young age, she first experienced firing clay bricks with her father, who worked in a factory producing red bricks.

She came to Kuala Lumpur to pursue her studies in graphic design, and after graduating worked in advertising. It paid the bills and there was enough left over to support her passion: "I took up Ceramics in KLCA School of Art under Mr Cheah Yeow Seng. That was 17 or 18 years ago."

Her clay works have a youthful and carefree feel to them – a little girl with her puppy, curious rabbits in clothes looking like they just stepped out from a story book, orange carrots and red flowers.

In Wong's Brownie Comes Home, she is transported back to her childhood where Brownie, a dog the family had to leave behind when they moved from Brunei to Kota Kinabalu, was part of her life.

Born in Kuantan, but raised in Kota Kinabalu and Brunei, the artist fondly recalls the days long past where the family home was filled with pets.

"Those days we had over 20 rabbits, turtles, birds, monkeys, ducks, chickens and many dogs. We rescued baby bats that fell from the ceiling and caught fishes from the drains and jellyfish from the sea," she says.

"My brother and I once rescued and tended to a slow loris from the wild and we even had two sang kancils (mousedeers)." The works created for Day Dream represent events that she remembers from her childhood days.

No surprise then when she describes this as "years filled with carefree magical wonderment, travels, nature and animals."

Now, she does "pottery full-time, and graphic design full-time".

James Seet's Ceramics On Canvas: Stereotypes is one of his most recent works created for the exhibition.

"The words of art are always in me, and clay is all about fun. I'm 47 and I still think of playing!" she laughs.

Seet, the other artist involved in Day Dream, might not have grown up with dozens of animals as part of the family, but that didn't faze him in the least. He simple made his own with modelling clay.

"Plasticine was my fun thing when I was young, I remember making a zoo full of animals with ease," he says.

He moved on to air-dry paper clay when he was a little older, but found it lacking that it didn't have the 'ping' sound that comes from clay that is fired.

So he learned the tricks of the trade from a local potter, and an opportunity to attend a ceramic convention in Australia put him in touch with foreign potters. There was no looking back from then on.

"Clay is my canvas and painting. The process of understanding the clay to firing makes it intriguing, you never know what you are going to get till it's fired," says the 44-year-old, who has 12 works at this exhibition.

Seet's Ceramics On Canvas: Canadian Muse was created during an artist-in-residence programme in Canada. The art director by day says that whether it is advertising art or clay art, it all begins with a concept. 'The difference is one is abstract messaging and the other is clear messaging. With clay, I usually keep the meaning to myself because it will take on a meaning of its own when viewers see it and I find that interesting,' he says.

It can get pretty complex behind the scenes.

To get one piece to work, Seet shares that it's important to "know the science of chemistry, the science of operating a kiln, and have a good sense of space."

"Sometimes, you have to experiment several times to get the desired result. But I like it also because chemistry is one of my favourite subjects. I find it fascinating to unload my thoughts straight into my clay sculptures."

His two most recent works both began with ceramics on canvas: Canadian Muse was created during a guest artist-in-residence programme in Canada, and Stereotypes was made here.

An art director in the advertising industry by day, Seet shares that he keeps crazy hours at work.

"But I am crazier," he jokes.

"Advertising is about doing what the clients like. Making ceramics sculptures is about doing what I like. It's all about time management, so I make the sculptures after working hours and weekends."

He describes it as "technically living two lives, with one paying for the other."

"I live in a topsy-turvy world. One of my series is based on the theme which whimsically takes the form of a playing top. That's how I spin my time."

>> Day Dream is on at China House (153 & 155 Beach Street and 183B Victoria Street, Penang) till April 20. The gallery is open from 9am to 11pm daily. Visit www.chinahouse.com.my or call 04-263 7299 for more information.

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